Pope ends memorable UK visit

(September 20, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI ended a 4-day state and pastoral visit to the United Kingdom Sunday evening thanking the nation and its people for making it memorable. In a farewell speech at Birmingham’s international airport, the Pope expressed gratitude for all the hard work and preparation put in for the numerous events of his Sept. 16-19 visit during which he met the Queen, political and religious leaders and above all the Catholic community of the UK. He said, "I was particularly honoured to be invited to address both houses of parliament in the historic precincts of Westminster Hall." The German pontiff hoped that these encounters will contribute to confirming and strengthening the excellent relations between the Holy See and the United Kingdom, especially in cooperation for international development, in care for the natural environment, and in the building of a civil society with a renewed sense of shared values and common purpose…”
British Prime Minister David Cameron bidding farewell to Pope Benedict at Birmingham airport affirmed that his message during what he described as "an incredibly moving four days" has reached not just the Catholics of Britain but each and every one of every faith and none. “You have really challenged the whole country to sit up and think, and that can only be a good thing,” he said. Commenting on Cardinal John Henry Newman, whom the Pope beatified Sunday morning, the British Prime Minister underlined the "responsibilities of each person in society obligations and opportunities that came from what Cardinal Newman described as the 'common bond of unity' that we all share." He told Pope Benedict this common bond has been an incredibly important part of his message to them, and that it is at the heart of the new culture of social responsibility they want to build in Britain. Cameron affirmed that "people of faith - including our 30,000 faith-based charities - are great architects of that new culture." "Faith is part of the fabric of our country." "It always has been and it always will be," he stressed. Cameron said that they must continue to help the poorest, even in difficult economic times," warning that "a yawning gap between the rich and the poor will be more dangerous and less secure for all of us."